Building
by TaintedEmpath
Summary: How does a person continue after accomplishing their destiny? Harry wasn't sure what he should do with his life, but maybe he had time to find out now.
1. Chapter 1

Harry woke up to darkness.

The castle stones were cool to the touch as he quietly made his way around the corridors. Broken stones littered the floor in places, he had to carefully plot his path to avoid them.

It wouldn't do to rouse those still asleep.

He hadn't intended to start these morning walks; changing his sleep schedule so drastically. But sleeping for more than 24 hours after the Battle of Hogwarts had ended would have that effect on most.

Harry just wanted to avoid everyone right now. The hours after the fight and the grieving that had followed exhausted his emotions. And as his friends continued their wake, he had taken to avoiding them.

He hadn't wanted them to see his inability to truly be sad. Maybe it was the fight with Voldemort which had left him bereft of feelings, or maybe it was simply the sheer number of losses he had already obtained over his life, but he knew that something was wrong with him when he continued on as normal.

These thoughts had been repeating in the past week, mostly when he took these walks of his. It took far too much effort to avoid interaction with friends and new followers to allow himself stray thoughts then.

Hence, the walks. The walks until dawn when the castle woke up and began their day of rebuilding. When he took to hiding in empty classrooms and broken corridors and weird sleep schedules.

To prevent everyone from finding that he was broken, and wasn't sure how he could be fixed.


	2. Chapter 2

"People have been wondering where you've been Mr. Potter."

"'People', Professor?"

"Ms. Granger and Ms. Weasley have been the most vocal admittedly, but many witches and wizards wish to express their thanks."

"...I just want to be alone right now."

Harry turned his eyes from McGonagall and observed the hallway he had taken refuge in. One of the more destroyed corridors, light streamed through the holes in the wall and warmed him as he sat in the sunlight, contrasting the cool stone around him.

Some dust kicked up into the stream as McGonagall sat beside him.

"Avoiding your admirers now will only make them more ardent in their pursuit of you. Telling them anything at all would be better than what you're doing now."

"..."

"You can't keep this up forever."

"..."

At his continued silence McGonagall turned away from Harry, and followed his eyes to the corridor she found herself in. Finding Harry Potter was an easier task for the Headmistress, the wards of Hogwarts giving at least some location of its inhabitants. She found herself using them now more than ever as she went about her duties, seeking to restore the castle to its former glory.

Returning away from her thoughts to the hallway, she took our her wand and silently flicked it towards some debris on the opposite side of where she sat. The broken stone shrunk slightly and started to distort like clay as it rose towards the hole it appeared to have come from. As the stone reached the level of its hole, it moved into it and transformed into its shape. Expanding to reach the holes edges, the stone settled and became hard once more, mending the opening and cutting off the light to where Harry had been resting.

The Headmistress returned her attention to her former student.

"...I know I never did right by you Mr. Potter. Never gave you the help or consideration you needed while you were here. My job is to help the students of the castle and to protect the members of my house. Neither of which I truly accomplished with you. But I'd like to try my best to help you now, with whatever you ask of me."

Silence returned as Harry's eyes left from where they had moved when she had taken out her wand.

He contemplated what to tell her, and he thought about some decisions he had come to in the past week.

"...I'm not going to come back to Hogwarts next year."

"I presumed that you would take the Auror training Kingsley was offering" McGonagall stated with some surprise.

"I'm not taking that either."

"Then what do you plan on doing?"

"I don't know."

"Do you have any ideas?"

"...Not yet. But I think I need to fix some things first."

He looked around the fixed corridor as he said that.

McGonagall followed his eyes and hesitantly spoke her next words.

"Would you like me to teach you how to fix the corridors? With how you've been wandering, you must know of where most of the damage occurred. It would be a great boon to me if you could help."

"I think I'd like that Professor. Thank you."

"...No, thank you, Mr. Potter."


End file.
